Rivian Automotive, an electric-vehicle maker, surpassed expectations with its third-quarter revenue and announced an increase in its production forecast for the year. The company raised its projection by 2,000 vehicles, bringing the total to 54,000 units. Following this news, Rivian’s shares climbed over 3% in after-hours trading, following a 1.4% increase at the close of the regular trading session.
One significant development from Rivian is its decision to terminate its exclusivity agreement with its largest shareholder, Amazon, for its electric delivery van. This move opens the door for Rivian to engage with a broader range of customers worldwide. The company has already begun conversations with other potential customers interested in the Rivian Commercial Vehicle platform, which serves as the foundation for its electric delivery vans. Rivian also reiterated its commitment to fulfilling Amazon’s order of 100,000 vans by 2030.
Rivian has observed strong sales of its higher-priced SUV, outpacing its R1T model. Furthermore, the company has benefited from price hikes implemented in March of last year, leading to an improvement in the average selling price of its vehicles.
In the previous month, Rivian reported third-quarter deliveries that exceeded market expectations. The company has distinguished itself by avoiding price reductions and, instead, opting to produce its Enduro powertrains in-house. This strategy has reduced its reliance on suppliers and resulted in cost savings, which has been well-received by investors and analysts.
For the July-September period, Rivian achieved a revenue of $1.34 billion, surpassing Wall Street estimates of $1.33 billion. However, the company did report a net loss of $1.37 billion for the third quarter, compared to a loss of $1.72 billion during the same period last year. At the end of the September quarter, Rivian had $7.94 billion in cash and cash equivalents, down from $9.26 billion in the previous three-month period.
These developments were reported by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco. The article was edited by Krishna Chandra Eluri.
